Hayden Mullins has said he has not been told how long he will be interim head coach at Watford and said his temporary promotion came as a surprise.

Speaking ahead of a tricky trip to Leicester City tomorrow evening, the man usually responsible for overseeing the Under 23s said he had been working day and night since his appointment to try and prepare his team for the clash with the Foxes.

"I haven't been told," he said. "I work for the football club so for me it's an absolute honour to lead the team tomorrow. It's just an ongoing process, it's part of a club appointment that they're looking for. I'm not part of that and the role that I'm giving tomorrow is a fantastic role for me personally and it's one that I'm really looking forward to.

"In the next couple of days, I don't know what could happen. I'm comfortable doing the game tomorrow, it's fantastic, in terms of the future games, who knows. It's down to the club.

"We were in Sunday, we trained in the morning with the 23s and obviously we didn't know anything was going to happen. They announced Quique was leaving in the afternoon and I work for the football club, if asked to do the first team, it's an absolute honour. We were over in the academy side of the building, I got a phone call and I was surprised.

"I've been staying very late. Late nights and early mornings. You wake up at five and you've got loads of things going around your head and thoughts and ideas and bits and pieces and it's good, there's loads of things going on.

"We know we're facing a very good side in Leicester, so obviously that's the main challenge that's facing us at the moment. We know they're a very good side. They've got loads of pace in the team and they're a big threat, so it's how we kind of approach the game and how we set up to attack them."

As far as team selection goes, Mullins has the same injuries hampering his squad as his predecessor Quique Sanchez Flores had for the trip to Southampton, with Craig Dawson, Christian Kabasele, Daryl Janmaat, Sebastian Prodl, Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Bachmann all missing through injury.

However, the temporary boss said he was delighted with the response he has received from the squad members since his arrival.

"They're professional guys. The support they've given us has been first class," he said. "The support we've had from most of the members of the squad has been brilliant. The injured boys haven't kind of been in and around. We've worked with a lot of the boys that are fit. Training's been very good, the last couple of days have been first class.

"I think the perception of players is so wrong because they're so professional and focused, they're not thinking about the next guy, they're thinking about Leicester City tomorrow, they're thinking about trying to get a positive result at Leicester. Working with them the last two days, the professionalism of the players has been first class. The focus and the drive is how they can work together as a side and try and get a result."

While Mullins hasn't been tasked with achieving anything specific during his time in charge, he believes there is enough in his team to survive the drop.

He reflected on his own unlikely relegation escape with West Ham and said togetherness was vital to their survival.

"If we put a run together, mathematically where we are in the league it definitely isn't out the question" he said on avoiding the drop.

"And I've been in positions before in my time as a player at West Ham, we were in a very difficult situation and we went on a very good run a little bit later than now and we ended up pulling together and we got out of it. Anything's possible. We start with the next game, our focus is on Leicester and what we can get out of the game. We'll take it from there."